Guthrie, Gillian 1
The Best and Worst of Ads of 2007: Progressive versus Regressive Strategies
Gillian Guthrie
Pacific Lutheran University
BUSA 308 Principles of Marketing
Prof. Merlin Simpson
05.11.08
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Increasingly dramatic technological developments have contributed to the success
of today’s commercial advertisements. With the advent of computers, LED lighting, cell
phones, state of the art printer technology and clever advertising appeal, ads today are
cutting edge in form. Companies are putting their products, their names, and their
reputations wherever they believe functioning eyes and/or ears will be present; American
companies have become more aggressive and audacious than ever before in their
approach to their message execution. As awareness of our looming global situation
spreads, a growing number of companies are taking steps in an eco-friendly direction in
an attempt to target, appeal and acquire new customers while exercising social
responsibility. As Madison Avenue so eloquently stated in their ad, “Green is the new
black (Vranica, 2008).” Among those employing the “environmental consciousness”
approach as their primary advertising appeal are corporate giants General Electric Co.,
Home Depot Inc., Chevron Corp., and Toyota Motor Corp.; which, considering the plight
of global warming, quadrupling of oil prices and record high consumption of gasoline,
seems an astutely appropriate direction (Vranica, 2007). In addition to fresh angles on
appeal, companies have successfully expanded their efforts into the online medium; this
was largely in response to ad-skipping DVR devices such as Tivo. Other novelties
included adding smells to print advertisements, and unsuspecting areas like gasoline
pumps, escalators, and even the sidewalk (Vranica, 2008). Some ads were hits among
their targeted market and beyond, while others completely missed their mark. Per review
of last year’s ads, allow me to discuss and evaluate the underlying messages as well as
the progressive and regressive elements of a few of the best and worst advertisements of
2007.
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The Best of 2007 Ads
The “Eye of the Beholder” campaign by Unilever’s Dove was a tremendous hit
among its target audience: aging women. The chosen medium was an online video. The
objective was to establish an understanding of the true definition of beauty. The ad
“shows an average-looking woman being transformed into a billboard supermodel with
the help of lots of makeup, lighting and airbrushing. ‘No wonder our perception of beauty
is distorted,’ reads the screen (Vranica, 2007).” In conjunction with Dove’s website,
campaignforrealbeauty.com, the execution of their message was deliberate, concise and
effective; the ad was viewed over 24 million times on YouTube last year and an
estimated 4.6 million times on their website (Vranica, 2007). Moreover, there have been
ordinary individuals who have spoofed the ad which essentially speaks to fact that this ad
made an impression. It is one thing to watch an ad and forget about it, it is an entirely
different deal when people not only talk about it, but they spend time contemplating
about it. The pervasiveness of the ad on YouTube touches on the ad’s ability to capture
attention and is the first step of consumer involvement under the AIDA concept:
attention, interest, desire, and action (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2007). The fact that there
have been so many viewers suggests the second and third stages have been accomplished.
Interestingly, stocks soared in the beginning months of the campaign then abruptly
slowed after a few months (Forbes, 2007). While it is agreed that this “campaign for real
beauty” appeals to many women, among a market already abundant with anti-aging
products and a growing obsession with youth, perhaps embracing unvarnished aging is
risky. Despite this, Dove did well to inform, persuade and remind its customers what its
product and its strategy was. Conceivably, acquiring an older, motivational (and
youthful-looking) spokesperson such as Kim Cattrall, who could be an opinion leader and
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influence the opinions of their target market, could aid their effort to assert their
campaign to embrace natural beauty.
The next venture’s intent was to promote "The Simpson’s Movie" and consisted
of a cooperative advertising campaign between News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and
7-11 franchises. The convenience store giant “converted twelve of its stores into Kwik-E-
Marts, the fictional chain of convenience stores in the animated TV series. The stores
even sold specially created items such as Squishees, the fictional frozen beverage similar
to 7-Eleven's Slurpees; pink-frosted Sprinklicious doughnuts (a Homer favorite) and
boxes of KrustyO’s cereal (Vranica, 2007)” The 7-11
chain, a unit of Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co., saw major sales lifts at the eleven U.S.
stores that were converted for the month of the promotion. This campaign was a success
because of the numbers: the company says “total merchandise sales doubled; fresh bakery
sales increased sevenfold and customer count went up almost 50% (Vranica, 2007).”
Moreover, 7-Eleven says the promotion garnered about $7 million in free publicity. By
immersing twelve stores in the comprehensive fictional outfit, complete with a media mix
full of sundry pertinent details, 7-11 successfully targeted Simpson’s viewers, a crowd
that wields on average 8.6 million viewers in addition to appealing to the youth; the reach
of this campaign was impressive: the 7-11 website receives on average 400,000 hits per
day but on July 11, at the height of the campaign, the site received 10,420,730 hits
(Vranica, 2007). The fact that the goods are convenience products furthers the extent of
reach because it merits minimal shopping effort. The short one month promotional period
was also a contributing success factor.
The final ‘best’ ad goes to Nationwide Mutual Insurance for their tremendously
successful application of a humorous appeal in the execution of their message. Their
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commercials usually are humorous, including the one where forever youthful Fabio
famous for his blond locks ages into a decrepit old and his hair turns white and then the
famous quip plays, “Life comes at you fast…” In this instance, Nationwide incisively
hired Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline, poster-child of rubbish, to be the butt
of a joke that predictably many people had already entertained. He is a notorious
wannabe rapper, but they have him working in a fast-food chain. “The spot, which looks
like a rap video, shows Mr. Federline, wearing a baseball cap and wireless headset
rapping. As the camera pulls back, Mr. Federline is seen working the drive-through
window. ‘Life comes at you fast. Be ready with a Nationwide annuity and you could be
guaranteed income for life,’ a voice over announces (Vranica, 2007)” This was an instant
public relations hit simply because it starred a currently known celebrity; the fact that it
was aired during the super bowl gave it significant public weight and reach. This ad
sparked conversation on "Entertainment Tonight" and "Good Morning America" and
provided late-night television hosts with endless punch lines. The ad really pinpoints the
reality of the inevitable uncertainties that tend to crop up in life, and provides a service to
call on prepare someone for such uncertainties. It was estimated that this ad generated
$23.3 million in free publicity; now that was a successful publicity segment of
Nationwide’s promotional strategy (Vranica, 2007). Ultimately, Nationwide secured their
image and their humorous approach through effective strategic planning for competitive
advantage once more: you are more apt to remember an ad that made you laugh.
The Worst of 2007 Ads
The disastrous marketing ploy engineered by the creators of the animated TV
show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” featured on Cartoon Network, is one for the history
books. In an effort to promote their animated TV series, “the agency planted about forty
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boxes—adorned with blinking lights in the shape of "Hunger Force" characters Err and
Ignignokt—around downtown Boston.” The stunt sparked a panic amid
Boston residents, prompting the closure of highways and subways; many believed it was
a bomb scare or another terrorist attack. Furthermore, the network's parent company,
“Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Broadcasting Systems, ended up paying the Massachusetts
attorney general $2 million to settle any potential civil or criminal claims. ‘Clearly this
was not the intended outcome for this campaign,’ said Turner spokeswoman Shirley
Powell (Vranica, 2007).” Beyond the actual stunt, an apology was demanded, which
appeared to be a joke in itself; the two artists addressed the public in near rags, dismal
hygiene and proceeded to laugh, chide, smirk and obviously did not take their public
apology seriously in the slightest. This was devastating for their public relations image;
their credibility (if they had any to begin with) dropped to nil. The goal of public
relations is to “identify areas within the organization the public may be interested in and
execute a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance”: this agency
failed to successfully execute this area of the promotional mix (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel,
2007).Their primary mistake was that they did not undergo proper procedure: ask
permission before deciding to deface public property. Given the heightened sensitivity of
east coasters to react negatively to a campaign of this caliber, and the misinterpretation of
the cartoon characters’ shapes, there was significant noise that interfered with the
transmission of their message. Furthermore, the target market of a TV show that airs on
the Cartoon Network beginning at mid-night probably does not entail every Boston
resident. While their advertising campaign was ineffective at targeting a specific
audience, securing their public image, and implementing the proper medium for their
advertising objective, albeit negative, they did elicit a response which in essence,
generated feedback and publicity.
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Anheuser-Busch decided to contract with an in-house marketing team to start a
web-site containing over 2,000 minutes of original programming including short shows,
comedy stand up acts, and "The Joe Buck Show," which features the sports commentator
interviewing celebrities in a New York City cab (Vranica, 2007). Despite Anheuser-
Busch’s longstanding reputation for humorous ads and effective specified targeting of
their market, this stunt was a flop. They threw a sunk cost of 15 million dollars into this
endeavor. Understandably, the advent and shift towards internet usage and fierce
competition may have led Anheuser-Busch to believe it would be a successful
undertaking; however, it was not a hit because they failed to conduct sufficient marketing
research to evidence that their target market of males aged 21-27 would be interested in
perusing a web-site featuring Bud.tv rather than their usual websites; YouTube, facebook,
and Myspace etc. They failed to offer a significant competitive advantage on their
website that their target audience was not already offered on the sites they visit regularly.
“The number of visitors to the site was so low it didn't meet Web-tracking firm comScore
Inc.'s threshold for measurability of visitors for most of the year (Vranica, 2007).” In
their post campaign evaluation, Anheuser-Busch should examine the competing websites
that their target audience is visiting and attempt to develop, incorporate and offer a
competitive advantage on their website that no other site offers. This is just the type of
unique selling position in advertising appeal that distinguishes Anheuser-Busch from its
competitors’ advertising appeals.
Mars Inc. decided to run an ad containing content that was deemed controversial
among the homosexual subculture. “The ad showed two mechanics eating the same
candy bar at the same time—in what was a bizarre spin on the famous scene from "Lady
and the Tramp," where two dogs simultaneously eat a strand of spaghetti. After the men
reach the middle of the candy bar and lock lips, they rip out clumps of their chest hair in a
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desperate attempt to ‘do something manly’ (Vranica, 2007).” Soon after the Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation condemned the ad as antigay, Mars pulled the ad.
Spokeswoman for Mars, Alicia Nathanson prepared a public statement: "feedback from
our target consumers was positive, and many media commentators ranked the
commercial among their top ten best, we know that humor is highly subjective and
understand that some people may have found the ad offensive. That was never our intent
(Vranica, 2007).” This was particularly delicate phrasing on Mars’ behalf to soothe
heightened sensitivity among the subculture. An effective humor advertising appeal can
be tricky to implement; obviously, there’s no standardized formula for laughter—not
everyone will find your pitch humorous. However, especially regarding situation as these,
detailing each element of the advertising campaign (theme, slogan, set of advertising
appeals), promotional mix/strategy (plan for optimal use of advertising, public relations,
personal selling, and sales promotion) and media planning (regarding the selection and
use of media), as well as evaluating and being fully aware of the repercussions, is crucial
to the success of the company’s overall image (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2007). One
miscalculation can cost the company face, money, customers, success, and profits.
The goal of promotion is to inform, persuade and remind. As evidenced in the
above discussion, implementing a successful promotional strategy (which is a plan for the
optimal use of the advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion) can
be extremely difficult. A plethora of factors can promote the success or failure of a
business’s strategy: customer’s perception and reception; noise; nature
of a product; stage in the product life cycle; target market characteristics; type of buying
decisions; available funds; push and pull strategies; and the external environment among
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factors. To be a successful marketer, one must be attentive to the each and every detail
involved.
Content: 190/200
Write: 41.3/50 very well written, although excessive use of
quotes; exceeded page limit
Total: 231.3/250 92.5 A-/A
Gillian,
Very good reading – except for the distraction of the excessive use of quoted
content (from Vranica). You didn't need the extensive quotes. The assignment was to
be limited to five pages – the long-than-needed quotes contributed to your exceeding
the limit by two pages. You write extremely well; the content also demonstrates a very
fine comprehension of the course material we have addressed. Don’t let the quotes
detract. How much of them did you really need to support the very good insights and
points you were making? Look forward to seeing you in future marketing classes. Have
a great summer.
Despite my comments about length – the original copy of this paper also belongs
in your portfolio. It’s good reading and evidence of your content comprehension and
critical thinking skill.s
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References
Forbes, Thom (2007, September 27). Dove Campaign May be Losing Luster. Marketing Daily.
Retrieved May 1, 2008 from http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm ?fuseaction
=Articles.showEdition&art_send_date=2007-9-24&art_type=43
Lamb, Charles D., Joseph F. Hair, Jr., and Carl McDaniel (2007). Essentials of Marketing, 9th
edition. South-western Thomson Learning: Cincinnati, Ohio.
Vranica, Suzanne (2007, December 27). Best of Ads, Worst of Ads; In Pitching Products
This Past Year, Gorilla Worked, but Guerrilla Didn't. The Wall Street Journal.
Retrieved May 1, 2008 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb? did=1404035
041&sid =7&Fmt=3&clientId=9255&RQT=/